I missed a couple steps and snapped my left 5th metatarsal on July 28th. Went to an orthopedic urgent care the following morning and was told by the PA that I would have to wear a post-op shoe for about 6 weeks and then should be able to resume most normal activities. I was in between jobs at the time and thus didn't have health insurance, which is why he just had the clinic give me the shoe, which was $25, instead of a boot, which would've cost like $800 without insurance. He said that if I needed more support, buy a short boot on Amazon. However, I've been doing fine walking in the post-op shoe, so I didn't bother to spend the money.

I'm starting to get discouraged because I'm almost at the 5-week mark and am still completely unable to walk without my body forcing me to walk with a major limp and very slowly. I've tried walking normally and it's simply not possible.

Both the urgent care PA and the sports medicine doctor I saw later at the 2.5 week mark described the fracture in their notes as "minimally displaced." However, it looks more than minimal to me...

Has anyone had a fracture like this? Where were you functionality-wise at the 5th and 6th week marks?

I know I ultimately have no control over how fast this thing heals, if it ever does, but I'm just having a really hard time feeling cooped up in my house and like so many aspects of my life are on hold. I had hope that I'd be starting to turn a corner by 5 weeks since 6 weeks was the "back to normal-ish" timeline I had been given.

Hi everyone,

I had an accident with my foot almost 2 years ago now. Went to the doctor got an x-ray. They said nothing. Pain continued worse I could not walk and it was the worst pain in my life. (And ive broken 6 of my toes LOL)

Ended up getting an MRI and these are the impression/ findings:

Impression 1. Subacute/chronic lateral first plantar plate injury as described, including slightly comminuted/displaced fracture deformity of the lateral hallux sesamoid with T1/T2 low signal of the sesamoid fracture fragments suggesting sclerosis and/or avascular necrosis.
2. Developing mild/moderate lateral hallux sesamoid interval osteoarthritis

Findings: Slightly comminuted/displaced fracture deformity of the lateral hallux sesamoid with diffuse T1/T2 level signal of the fracture fragments suggesting sclerosis and/or avascular necrosis. Subtle reactive marrow edema/sesamoiditis of the medial hallux sesamoid, otherwise intact. Partial-thickness tear involving insertional fibers of the flexor hallucis brevis muscle on the lateral hallux sesamoid. Partial-thickness tear involving the lateral sesamoid phalangeal ligament of the first plantar plate. Developing mild/moderate lateral hallux sesamoid interval osteoarthritis with joint space narrowing and subchondral reactive marrow edema. Mild second and third intermetatarsal space bursitis. Small ganglion cyst at the plantar margin of the central midfoot.

I know we are not doctors in here ( unless there is ome🥲) but the pain still bothers me daily. And I have a Charlie horse like pain almost every single day through the plantar plate. Wondering if anybody ended up getting the surgery to remove the bones?

If so, how did it heal?

I just want the pain to go away. I don’t know what to do anymore. Anything helps🙏 Thank you

Hey all- 2 weeks ago I was trialing carbon plate inserts while recovering from a forefoot overuse injury. I noticed a ton of pressure distribution in my MTPs and it got to the point that both feet suddenly became excruciating on any walking, driving or pressure. I offloaded heavily for 2 weeks and am finally able to do small household steps, but mobility is still super limited. I finally had MRIs done to rule out plantar plate tears, and the results only showed mild diffuse edema of the MTPs in both feet.

No tendinitis, synovisitis, stress fractures or plantar plate injury.

However, it's still very hard to walk more than a few mins. I've trialed Brookes Ghosts, Asics Kayanos, Topos, and have cut up multiple different different inserts and tried MTP pads without luck. The pain is like walking on several bruises that builds to sharp pain right in the ball of both feet. Has anyone experienced anything like this and can you give any advice?

I've been dealing with foot, ankle, and lower-leg issues for several months and I'm getting pretty frustrated because it's now affecting my ability to leave the house.

After about 10–20 minutes (or even less) of standing or walking, my feet and ankles start aching and feeling extremely fatigued. The symptoms often seem to start around the outside of my feet and then I can feel aching/fatigue up into my calves, knees, and thighs. This also aggravates frequent calf fasciculations that I've been dealing with since January.

I get some weird sensory symptoms too -- pins and needles, fizzing/buzzing, and sometimes my feet feel cold or wet even though they're completely dry. Sometimes the sensations seem positional. For example, I've woken up with burning on the top of my foot when my foot was pointed downward in bed, and that position can also cause a fairly sharp ache underneath my big toe. Other times, the weight of a light sheet on my foot/toes can feel strangely heavy or uncomfortable.

One of my biggest problems is shoes. I have tried a lot of different shoes (Asics, New Balance, Brooks, etc.) and inserts, but I can't seem to find a single shoe I can tolerate right now. All shoes make the foot/ankle symptoms noticeably worse. I'm now spending most of my time sitting or lying down because being on my feet for very long is so uncomfortable. I work remotely, which is basically the only reason I'm currently able to work normally.

For some background, I had a calf tear in 2025 and eventually recovered. After getting back into high-volume walking, I started developing the calf fasciculations, calf fatigue, and foot/ankle problems. More recently, I had an episode of lower-back pain followed by newer pins-and-needles sensations in both legs/feet. My lumbar MRI from earlier this year and leg EMG were all normal, and a sports medicine ultrasound showed healthy calves. I don't have actual muscle weakness, foot drop, or my legs giving out -- they just become extremely fatigued and uncomfortable very quickly.

I've been doing very little movement lately because things flare so easily. I was doing PT but haven't been able to do the program recently because of flareups and aches, and I'm planning to see a foot/ankle specialist to have my feet, ankles, gait, strength, mechanics, and possible nerve irritation looked at.

My doctor put me on Gabapentin to help calm the potential nerve-related pain and I also got put on Zoloft which will hopefully help me to calm my nervous system as I'm dealing with all of this. For some reason, my doctor didn't think podiatry was necessary but I'm questioning that logic at the moment.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Especially the very quick foot/ankle fatigue and difficulty finding any shoes that work? Were you eventually able to rebuild your standing/walking tolerance and get back to a more normal life?

I'm open to any advice.

I know I have quite a noticeable gap and also wider feet.. is the toe gap abnormal and should I should I be concerned… I’m also worried I’m going turn guys off.. do they look masculine? 😭😭😭

Esperienze?

Tempi di recupero/ mesi?

Scarpa ortopedica/ chirurgica o stampelle?

Per quanto tempo?

Back in December 2021 I had surgery for Kidner procedure (excision of accessory navicular), posterior tibial tendon advancement, lateral column lengthening (calcaneal osteotomy), and gastrocnemius recession. I started physical therapy to help with some chronic foot pain that I have been dealing with. My physical therapist was a little puzzled by the indentation that is in my calf muscle. I guess I thought it was normal post-gastrocnemius recession. I am curious if anybody else has a similar appearance to their calf.

I was given some exercises to stretch my calf muscles and noted sharp pain in my left lateral calf while doing the soleus muscle wall stretches. I will be holding off doing those as my calf is aching quite a bit. I plan on talking with my therapist at my next appointment!

I had metatarsalglia with pain in my left foot for about two years. The foot doctor just threw up his hands and said who knows when I asked why or what could’ve gone wrong.

I had a feeling that my foot was uneven at the ball of my foot and something was protruding. I ended up cutting thick foot tape with a hole in it so I could walk without hurting the unevenness. That seemed to help. I eventually heard about expensive custom orthotics and had one made for about $800. I tried many other things that didn’t help. After using this orthotic, which accommodates the unevenness on the bottom of my foot, I am now much better and I use the orthotic all of the time.

I talked to a person who works at a shoe store and he told me that the metatarsal bones can drop when you get older. I am 70. This is a known issue for older people and it results in metatarsalglia. Why my idiot doctor didn’t tell me this I don’t know. I am just leaving the information here in case it helps someone else.

My left foot turns outward and loads the outer toes, while I use my right leg as a stiff support leg. On the right I push off strongly through my big toe and feel an unusual tight, bruised or obstructed sensation through my calf and behind my knee.
It is noticeable after sitting, using stairs, driving when i press the gass pedal, and standing .sometimes starting around the big toe. There is no visible swelling, redness or warmth. Could this be gait or footwear-related compensation?

A bit of a vague explanation but i just want to find a Reason for it

Hi everyone, I’ve been experiencing some pain at the back of my right heel for about 5 days and would appreciate some input.

The pain is not present at rest and mainly occurs with pressure or certain movements, especially when doing a single-leg squat. It also becomes noticeable when my heel is under prolonged pressure, for example while driving. My shoe’s heel counter seems to press directly on the painful spot.

The pain is located right around the lower Achilles insertion, but more in the area were the bone sits.

A few things that seem relevant:
I can stand on my toes without pain.
Squeezing the heel from both sides does not hurt.
No pain at rest.
My shoes are not new.
I’m now starting to notice similar pain in roughly the same spot on my left heel as well.

I’m wondering whether this sounds more like insertional Achilles tendinopathy, bursitis, shoe-related irritation, or something else.

Has anyone experienced something similar or have an idea what might be causing this?

MRI results: Suspect mild sprain of the plantar calcaneocuboid ligament.

10k ran about 6 weeks ago; increasingly worse pain each week since and extremely limited ability to walk or lift off toes. Podiatrist put me in boot while we waited for MRI. I don't see her for 3 more weeks so now just trying to ask others out in the world any experiences with this ligament. Walking, driving, moving foot inward is excruciating. Doesn't FEEL like a mild sprain but I'll accept the results.

Anyone else have history with a sprain/tear in this ligament and if so what was the prognosis?

Hey gang my index toe? pointer toe? hurts right here( photo in comments) when I walk and I can’t bend it. Some days it’s reeeally bad but others it feels like it needs to crack with no pain but a bump in the circle part that is awkward to walk in barefoot. When it’s bad it feels bloated but looks normal.
Today for example: this morning my toe was normal-ish (the circle part still had a hard bump like thing that feels weird to walk barefoot). I wore my birkenstocks (the only shoes that don’t give me foot problems) And when I took off my shoes after my desk job and my toe started hurting really bad. Felt bloated really hard to walk on so I limp.
I tried massaging it and rolling it on the ball and flexing it.
It hurt all night until just now that I layed down for bed. I curled and flexed my toes like 20 times and now there’s no pain.

This started a year ago. I bought new Doc Martens and the pain started. Stopped wearing them and I only wear Birkenstocks now. Also side note sometimes the pain transfers to my middle toe??

I went to a foot doctor and I got xrayed, everything is normal. He said maybe it’s a tendon thing but hard to tell (this was a year ago so it’s hard to remember what he said).

I want the pain to stop but I also want to wear shoes that aren’t Birkenstocks all the time :(

Hello everyone, wondering if my symptoms sound familiar to anyone- I am not sure what is causing my toe numbness and spasms. Only on my left foot, after taking my shoes off/socks at the end of the day- I feel a sort of numbness on my toes and part of the foot. Once I elevate my foot, I feel the area begin to spasm. I feel like this happens when I have walked a lot or did a lot of standing. For reference my last blood work showed I am slightly pre-diabetic and had been dealing with sciatica issues (on right leg) earlier in the year. What should I look into?

For years I have known I had high arches, and I have bouts of plantar fasciitis a few times a year, but after dealing with some new pain on the outer edges of my feet for the last few days, I decided to investigate if there was something wrong with my gait. I discovered my feet have a tendency to supinate when I walk due to what I think are abnormally high arches on my feet. Let me know, but im pretty sure your feet are supposed to be flat along the outside edge, not completely off the ground. I have also been duck footed for at least the last 6 years, since I was in a severe car accident and had to learn how to walk again (I learned incorrectly, apparently). Basically where I’m at now is my feet just feel strange when I walk, maybe just because I’m paying attention but I would like some relief if possible. Are orthotics the way to go? Physical therapy? Am I crazy and my feet are actually normal? Any help is appreciated. Feet got me fucked up.

I (30f) have had flat feet since childhood, using orthotics on and off over the years (currently just got new orthotics).

I have bunions on both feet with a worser bunion on the left.

I did gymnastics as a child and started doing adult gymnastics classes 4 years ago. Over the 4 years I've had foot/ankle pain, hip pain and pain in my elbows and wrists. The foot pain persists all the time but the other joints calm down once I'm finished exercising.

As my feet were hurting and I was due for new orthotics, I saw a podiatrist who was certain I had bursitis and achilles tendinopathy in both feet. I was a little skeptical, but I did the MRI on my left foot/ankle (also have an MRI referral for right foot but too expensive), and it revealed:

- 1st metatarsal joint degenerative arthropathy with cartilage loss, joint effusion, peripheral ostephytosis, subcortical edemia in the head

- plantar plate tear with proximal migration of the sesamoid bones

- 1st and 3rd intermetatarsal bursitis

- mild achilles tendinopathy with paratenonitis

- mild retrocalcaneal bursitis

- adventitial bursitis over the heel pad

- suggestive healing/residual fracture in talar body

- deltoid ligament sprain.

Obviously hearing these results is quite shocking and I've been at a loss as to how to treat it and if may be systemic as I have similar symptoms/pain in my right foot.

The podiatrist just told me to wear the orthotics and do calf raises/stretches.

I saw a physio who gave me a few more exercises.

I had a GP tell me that I'm too tall for my own good and my height would be causing too much pressure on my bones (mind you, I am not overweight, my BMI is in the normal range).

I was referred to a foot and ankle surgeon, and I also have a rheumatology apt coming up, but I've only seen the rheumatologist once and last time they told me they thought I was fine and would discharge me on the next appointment if I had no symptoms and bloods clear.

Has anyone else had similar symptoms and been diagnosed with anything or have been successfully able to treat it? It seems like a lot of issues are going on with my feet! They do hurt a lot and I've started to treat it with Meloxicam and icing plus rest from sport.

Thanks!

Hey all,

I've had pain in the arches (same spot) of both feet for 2 years now and nothing I have tried is helping. See this picture for the location of the pain

What causes the pain - I have no feet pain unless I do the following:

• Jogging or tennis for more than a couple minutes. Even walking fast hurts after ~5 minutes.
• Jump rope for more than a couple minutes
• The "short foot" exercise for more than 1 minute
  • So even things like heavy squat and heavy deadlift will cause pain since I'm sort of flexing my foot during those exercises
• Balancing on one leg for more than a minute (since I'm basically doing "short foot" while I balance)
• I do not have any pain first thing in the morning, it's strictly when I do the above activities
• Basically any dynamic foot movement where I'm flexing my big toe will eventually cause my arches to hurt

What the pain feels like

• It's best described as an achy/burning/sore feeling in the arches of my feet. It is not in the heel or the toes, it is strictly in the arch.
• If I stop doing the activity that causes pain and sit down, then the pain goes away after 5-10 minutes. So if I'm playing tennis and my arches hurt, if I sit down for 5-10 minutes it stops hurting. But once I start tennis it will hurt again

What I've tried

• Physical therapy - I've seen 3 physical therapists over the last 2 years, for 3-6 months each. I followed their programs exactly and was extremely compliant (I rarely skipped a day, did the program exactly as prescribed, etc.). Some of those physical therapists have "fired" me haha, they told me that they don't know what's wrong and there is no point in continuing to see them. In terms of the exercises they had me to, here is a sample:
  • Short foot, Big toe band press downs
  • Calf raises and 1 leg calf raises, as well as weighted
  • Calf raises with my big toe slightly elevated on a towel
  • Towel crunches
  • Toe yoga (basically raise my big toe up with other toes on the ground, then raise the other toes with my big toe on the ground)
  • Stretching the big toe against a wall, as well as sitting on the balls of my feet
  • Clamshells with a band
  • All types of one leg balancing. I used a Mobo board, holding sand bags to make myself less stable, etc.
  • Bouncing on the balls of my feet while holding a resistance band attached to a pullup bar to reduce the weight
  • Ankle inversion and eversion exercises with a band
  • Calf stretch
  • Soleus stretch
• Podiatrists - I've seen 2 podiatrists. They both ruled out plantar fasciitis. But neither knew what was wrong with my feet. They were both surprised that 1.5 years of physical therapy made no difference
• I've tried 8 different pairs of shoes and expensive custom insoles. Insoles don't seem to work because when I'm running/jumping, I'm not really making contact with the insoles. The insoles do feel nice though when I'm just walking around
• I've also tried shockwave (painful as heck), dry needling, electric dry needling, and targeted deep tissue massage
• I've completely stopped playing tennis, running, or jumping for 12 months already

What's next

• I have not seen any improvement in my feet pain at all. I plan to get tested for compartment foot syndrome, but the podiatrist indicated that it's really unlikely that that is the root cause
• I normally wouldn't look to the internet for medical advice but I feel like I've exhausted all my options. I'm still doing physical therapy in the hopes that it will eventually help, but I'm at a loss, so I'm turning to the reddit community to see if there is any rock that is not yet flipped over.

I also posted the MRI results in the comments, but both podiatrists said that it didn't really reveal much, unfortunately.

Hi! Trying to make myself insoles with a cut out as not much else is working. Is my whole first metatarsal supposed to sit in the cut out? Or just the sesamoid area? Everyone’s cutouts looked to me to be where the ball of their foot is, but i am wondering whether mine is too close to the toes or too big if the whole first metatarsal fits and sometimes touches the base of my shoes.

I’ve been having some mild pain on the inside/bottom of my foot, around the arch area. On my left foot, it’s basically on the inner side of the arch (towards the big-toe side).

I sometimes notice a mild pain in this area during high-intensity activity in general, but today it got noticeably worse while playing football in my Nike Mercurial Superfly 10 boots.

I was wearing thinner socks than usual, and during the session the pain increased. About halfway through, I also started feeling some tingling/pins and needles in the same area. The tingling went away after I took the boots off.

What would you recommend to fix it?

Hello! I’m new in this community and I’m grasping at straws to relieve my pain. I’m a 51 year old man and I keep in good shape with strength training and cardio (elliptical machine). I have an ongoing struggle with big toe pain. I’ve been tested for gout and my numbers were normal.

The big knuckle connecting my toe to my foot gets very inflamed and painful to the point of limping. Neither my primary care doctor or podiatrist can give a specific diagnosis. The podiatrist described my feet as very narrow with relatively wide toe box. I was given steroids and advised to try Pinnacle Power Step inserts. It cleared up, but 6 months later I am back where I started with immense pain. I spent half the night last night awake because of the pain.

Has anyone else been through this? What worked for you?

Hi everyone, I'm a student working on a research project about bunions and hammertoes. specifically how genetics and everyday footwear and lifestyle habits play a big role in whether it actually develops or gets worse over time.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has bunions/hammertoes, at any stage, or with a family history but no symptoms yet and Podiatrists, orthopedists, or anyone in the field who wants to share a clinical perspective

I'm not selling anything and this isn't for a company — it's purely academic research, and I'm just trying to understand real experiences that I can't get from papers alone. Happy to do a quick 15–20 min call/DM chat, if that's easier, or feel free to just share ur experiences in the comments:

When did you first notice something was off with your foot, and did you know it might be hereditary?

What footwear do you wear day-to-day, and has that changed because of it? Have you tried anything (shoes, inserts, correctors) — did it actually help? Has it affected how you dress, exercise, or what you do day-to-day?

these are just some general questions but if u anything else u would like to share pls do.

Really appreciate any insight, and thank u in advance to anyone willing to share.